Our Correspondent
Kohima, July 7 (EMN): The Kohima District Congress Committee (KDCC) under the banner of Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) on Wednesday joined the 11-day nationwide agitation to protest against the unprecedented hike in prices of petrol, diesel and other essential commodities despite the pandemic crisis.
The agitation, which began on July 7, will culminate on the 17th.
KDCC stated that it would be protesting in the form of banners, posters and signature campaigns as per the direction from the All India Congress Committee (AICC).
Khreidi Theunuo, working president of NPCC, while speaking at Congress Bhavan on Wednesday, asserted that the common people have been "economically affected" during the Covid-19 pandemic period, because of which the Congress party had initiated the protest to raise their voice for the rights and concerns of the citizens.
"The government, which is supposed to work for the welfare of the people, is not delivering goods to the people and we are made to suffer because of that," he said, adding that the programme was being initiated so that people will realise how they were being affected economically by the frequent price rise of essential commodities and fuel products.
Theunuo maintained that the hike in prices of petrol and diesel depended on the international market and foreign exchange rate, wherein rates of products are determined by the companies. However, he said the government should also be held responsible and ensure that the taxes of such products "do not affect the common people".
He accused the government of not paying heed to the plight of the people despite prices of essential commodities, including construction materials, shooting up daily in the state and other parts of the country.
He wondered if citizens were aware of the spiralling rate of commodities around them and expressed hope that the protest will bring about awareness among the masses as well as make the BJP and its allies realise the plight of the citizens.
If the signature campaign, which will be conducted in phased manner, is successful, 12 crore signatures could be collected from across the country, it was informed. However, Theunuo said they would concentrate in Kohima and Dimapur districts as it may not be convenient to carry out the campaign in other districts due to lockdown.
Following the launch of the signature campaign, the KDCC collected signatures from few party workers who arrived at the Congress Bhavan on Wednesday.
President of KDCC Kevi Vizo informed that they would conduct signature campaigns at several locations in Kohima like Congress Bhavan, SKV petrol pump and Sekhose petrol pump starting from Thursday.
He said that all the concerned officials of KDCC, ACCCs and frontal organisations will submit a memorandum along with the signatures to the governor of Nagaland on July 16 before the agitation culminates with a press conference at the Congress Bhavanin Kohima on July 17.
He went on to say that banners and stickers had been dispatched to various constituencies in Kohima district and some had already been put up at the Secretariat and Southern Angami region.
S Supongmeren Jamir, general secretary of NPCC, informed that during the Congress regime in 2013, when one barrel of crude oil was priced at $101, the price of petrol was INR 68 per litre while diesel INR 50.26 per litre.
However, in 2021, the price of crude oil is $75 per barrel but petrol price has shot up to INR 99.16 per litre and diesel to INR 89.18 per litre, he said, adding that prices of food items like dal, onion, oil etc, too have skyrocketed over the years.
In a press statement, the NPCC also said that the government had “hiked fuel prices on over 30 occasions” over the last two months and price of petrol has crossed INR 100 per litre in more than 200 cities.
“The Modi government charges INR 32.90 per litre excise on petrol and INR 31.80 per litre on diesel. The government has earned over INR 22 lakh crore in last seven years by imposing high excise duty on petrol and diesel. Similarly, prices of edible oils have nearly doubled in last six months and prices of pulses have seen an unprecedented rise. Every household item has seen quantum jump in prices,” read the press release.
It said the nationwide campaign demanding rollback in prices of petrol and diesel and to check spiralling price rise of essential commodities was initiated on witnessing the plight of people.
The update went on to inform that NPCC president K Therie launched the agitation in Dimapur at the Dimapur DCC office on Wednesday.